Philippine Chicken Adobo in Coconut Milk (Adobo sa Gata) and Cabbage with Mushroom Paste

A proper Filipino meal: rice and ulam on a plate, with spoon and fork.

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We're not big gata (coconut milk) people, so I can remember less than a handful of dishes that we eat involving coconut milk.

Ginataang manok (chicken cooked in coconut milk) is not one of them.

However, I had another cut-up chicken and I was running out of ideas and running out of time. We keep a couple of cans of coconut milk in the pantry, so I figure it was time to use them up and get new cans.

I started with recipe from LSC for a general sense of the technique involved.

Adobong Manok sa Gata (Chicken Adobo in Coconut Milk)


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First, I browned the chicken in some oil. This is not a necessary step and I can also omit it, especially if one does not feel like cleaning up splatters that day. But I was looking for a hit today: I find the smell of chicken frying in fat just intoxicating. It really is one of the best smells.

After taking out the chicken pieces and the excess oil, I sautéed some ginger. I added too much vinegar when I was deglazing -- hence, the final dish was on the sour-ish spectrum. The tartness was not unpleasant: it reminds one of the zing of adobo.

Hence, I call this dish chicken adobo in coconut milk.

I added a couple of cans of coconut milk, a dozen or so peppercorns, and about 6 cloves of garlic, just lightly crushed, and a bay leaf. I let the mixture braise until the chicken is tender.

Salt and more pepper to taste, of course.

We had a couple of zucchinis lying around and it joined the chicken in the pot because it had no other place to go.

Cabbage with Mushroom Paste


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For a vegetable dish, I sautéed some napa cabbage with a "helper."

My mother loves to keep these mushroom pastes around for her minced pork dishes.

I used a couple of tablespoons, along with a couple of cloves of garlic, and let everything cook together. It wasn't really a stir-fry; rather, I let the cabbage braise until tender.


The Meal


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The chicken dish and the vegetable dish are ulam.

Ulam is often translated into English as a "viand". Basically, ulam are dishes that you eat with rice. The rice can be thought of as the base of your meal, with various ulam as the "condiment" to the rice.

For a Filipino meal, you have your rice on the plate, you add your ulam (whatever it or they may be), and you eat the lot with your spoon and fork.

The spoon and fork setting is a Southeast Asian thing. Maybe someday we'll have a video of how to eat with the spoon and fork! =)

Look at that sauce from the chicken. Don't forget to spoon that over your rice!

So there you have it: simple, quick and easy, out-of-ideas cooking for a weeknight.

***Here is a version with halibut tails.

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Recipe
Chicken Adobo in Coconut Milk (Adobo sa Gata)
Serves 4-6

1 whole chicken, cut up into pieces (or chicken parts)
2 cans coconut milk
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (coconut vinegar or white vinegar)
6 cloves garlic
12 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2" sliced ginger
salt

1. Season chicken pieces and brown chicken pieces in oil.
2. Drain excess oil except for 2 tablespoons.
3. Add ginger pieces and saute.
4. Add crushed garlic and saute until fragrant.
5. Deglaze with vinegar and add the coconut milk.
6. Put back chicken pieces, along with peppercorns and bay leaf.
7. Let mixture braise until chicken is tender.


eatingclub vancouver adobo posts:
Chicken Adobo
Pork Belly, Two Ways
Adobo Kangkong (Adobo Water Spinach)
Adobo Mushroom Tart
"Chinese Adobo" Clams and Oysters
Chicken Adobo in Coconut Milk (Adobo sa Gata)
Coconut Adobo Halibut Tails (Adobo sa Gata)
Roast Chicken Adobo
Brown-braised Pig's Feet
Adobong Baka (Philippine Beef Adobo)